The Hindu : HC urged to recall excavation order

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Saturday, Mar 08, 2003

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HC urged to recall excavation order

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MARCH 7. The All-India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) today described the Allahabad High Court's order directing the Archaeological Survey of India to excavate the disputed site in Ayodhya as "unprecedented and uncalled for at a time when the title suit was on the fast track".

In a statement issued here today, the AIMMM urged the High Court to "recall its order" or "at least amend it by appointing a commission of archaeologists of national eminence to supervise the excavation and evaluate its findings". Also, the "unlawfully established makeshift temple which occupies nearly two-thirds of the Babri Masjid site" should be included in the excavation.

The AIMMM is of the view that the court should order the "plaintiffs concerned to file affidavits to undertake withdrawing their claim on the Babri Masjid site if the foundations of a temple are not found immediately underneath''.

According to the AIMMM president, Syed Shahabuddin, the High Court order is "fraught with far-reaching consequences because it sets a very questionable and dangerous precedent".

With the VHP trying to lay claim to 30,000 mosques across the country, the order could well be used by the Sangh Parivar as a precedent to demand excavation of all these masjids.

Mr. Sahabuddin said the court should have limited the scope of its order by explaining why the excavation had become absolutely essential in the absence of alternative evidence.

Further, the court should make it clear that this order would not be used as a precedent.

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